At the scene of an officer involved shooting in Santa Ana, an Orange County Sheriff's Department crime scene investigator sets down an evidence tag next to a spent bullet.

The 700 block of South Shawnee Drive was blocked after a man was apprehended there after fleeing a traffic stop where he was shot by a Santa Ana school police officer.

The officer-involved shooting is the first in the 15-year history of the Santa Ana school police, which operates independently of the Santa Ana Police Department. The school force has 20 sworn police officers and about 40 non-sworn safety officers.

The wounded man knocked on the door of this house on South Shawnee Drive and told people inside the house he had been shot. The people in the house called police, who took the man into custody. Paramedics then took him to the hospital.

The wounded man continued driving after he was shot. He stopped several blocks away, in the 2800 block of West Brook Street, then got out and ran to a house on South Shawnee Drive, Santa Ana. The man knocked on the door and told people inside the house he had been shot.

Fairview Street was blocked at 1st Street for the investigation into a police-officer involved shooting. Channel 2's news crew was interviewing police officials at the intersection.

An Orange County Sheriff's Department crime scene investigator photographs the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Santa Ana.

At the scene of an officer involved shooting in Santa Ana, an Orange County Sheriff's Department crime scene investigator sets down an evidence tag next to a spent bullet.

The officer-involved shooting happened around 11 a.m. near Fifth and Fairview Streets. Afterward, the man fled to a home in the 700 block of S. Shawnee Drive, where he pounded on the door and said he had been shot.

Santa Ana police officers stand by at the scene of an officer-involved shooting on Fairview Street , near 5th street.

A school police officer has shot a man following a traffic stop in Santa Ana. Here an Orange County Sheriff's Department crime scene investigator photographs a police motorcycle at the shooting scene.

SANTA ANA – A school police officer Tuesday morning shot and wounded a man who was driving toward another officer, according to police accounts.

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The man, identified as 19-year-old Gabriel Giovanni Hernandez of Santa Ana, was taken to UCI Medical Center with at least one gunshot wound to the upper body. Police said his injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

The two school officers were doing traffic enforcement at the intersection of Fifth and Fairview Streets, near two schools and school-district offices. They tried to pull over the man as he drove southbound on Fairview in a blue 2007 Hyundai, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

The car was reported stolen out of Fountain Valley on Jan. 5, Bertagna said. The two officers were trying to pull over the car on a traffic violation, Bertagna said, but he didn’t know if the driver initially stopped.

Just after 10:15 a.m., Bertagna said, the man drove toward one of the officers, who was on a motorcycle.

The other officer, who had been in a patrol car, fired several rounds, hitting Hernandez at least once, Bertagna said. It wasn’t initially clear how close the vehicle was to the officer when the shots were fired or how fast the car was going.

Hernandez continued driving after he was shot. He stopped several blocks away in the 2800 block of West Brook Street, then got out and ran to a house on South Shawnee Drive, Bertagna said. The man knocked on the door and told people inside the house he had been shot.

The people in the house called police, who took Hernandez into custody about 10:30 a.m.

Paramedics took Hernandez to a hospital. Once he is released, police expect to arrest him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and possession of a stolen vehicle, Bertagna said.

Authorities don’t believe Hernandez has any ties to the schools near where the shooting took place or to the residents in the home to which he ran.

The officer-involved shooting is the first in the 15-year history of the Santa Ana school police, which operates independently of the Santa Ana Police Department. The school force has 20 sworn police officers and about 40 nonsworn safety officers.

Schools in the area – Community Day High School and Spurgeon Intermediate – were notified of the shooting but were not locked down.

The school police officers are being interviewed by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which routinely investigates officer-involved shootings, and Santa Ana police detectives, who will investigate the attempted assault charges. Santa Ana school police and the city police department will conduct a joint internal investigation of the incident, Bertagna said.

Denisse Salazar covered the cities of Placentia and Yorba Linda for the Orange County Register. Over the years, she also covered crime, courts, human trafficking and breaking news, such as team coverage of Orange County’s worst mass killing, which won first place in online breaking news from the California Newspaper Publishers Association (2011). Salazar has won awards from the Orange County Press Club. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in Spanish. She earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from USC.

Sean Emery is a crime and public safety reporter for the Register who covers state and federal courts and criminal justice issues. He has worked for the Register since 2006, previously covering breaking news, the city of Irvine, the Orange County Great Park, and the city of San Juan Capistrano.

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